Autonomous vacuum

ABSTRACT

An autonomous vacuum cleaner operable to navigate about a surrounding environment to perform a surface cleaning operation without continuous human input. The vacuum cleaner includes a suction nozzle and a suction motor and a fan assembly operable to generate an airflow through the vacuum cleaner from the suction nozzle through a debris separator to a clean air exhaust. The suction motor and the fan assembly having an axis of rotation and a fan of the fan assembly rotatable about the axis of rotation. The axis of rotation is orientated horizontally. The debris separator includes a cyclonic separator operable to separate debris from the airflow and the cyclonic separator includes a cylindrical wall along a longitudinal axis, the longitudinal axis of the cyclonic separator being orientated horizontally.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/199,835, filed on Nov. 26, 2018, which granted as U.S. Pat. No.11,141,032 on Oct. 12, 2021, which is a continuation application of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/621,612, filed Jun. 13, 2017, whichissued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,136,784 on Nov. 27, 2018, which is acontinuation application of International Patent Application No.PCT/US2015/066801, filed on Dec. 18, 2015, which claims priority to U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/094,553, filed on Dec. 19, 2014,the contents all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner. More specifically,the present invention relates to an autonomous vacuum cleaner.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A vacuum cleaner is generally known in the art. A vacuum cleaner is acleaning device that creates a partial vacuum using air to suction dust,dirt, or other debris from a surface. The vacuum cleaner typically drawsa combination of air and dust, dirt, or other debris into the cleanerthrough a floor nozzle. This “dirty air” typically enters a dustseparator in the vacuum that separates the dust, dirt, or debris fromthe air. A bin or bag collects the separated dust, dirt, or debrisseparated from the air for later disposal. The resulting “clean air”exits the dust separator where it is exhausted from the vacuum cleaner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides, in one aspect, an autonomous vacuum cleaner thatincludes an outer housing with one or more of a controller, a sensor,and an automatic wheel assembly operable in combination to sense asurrounding environment and to navigate about the surroundingenvironment to perform a surface cleaning operation without continuoushuman input, a suction nozzle, and a suction motor and a fan assemblyoperable to generate an airflow through the vacuum cleaner from thesuction nozzle through a debris separator to a clean air exhaust. Thesuction motor and the fan assembly have an axis of rotation and a fan ofthe fan assembly is rotatable about the axis of rotation. The debrisseparator includes a cyclonic separator operable to separate debris fromthe airflow, the cyclonic separator being located within the housing.The cyclonic separator includes a cylindrical wall along a longitudinalaxis, the cylindrical wall having a first end and a second end and, adirty air inlet, a clean air outlet, a debris outlet adjacent the secondend of the cylindrical wall, and a dust bin in fluid communication withthe debris outlet of the cyclonic separator, where the cyclonicseparator is coaxial with the motor and fan assembly.

The invention provides, in another aspect, an autonomous vacuum cleanerthat includes an outer housing, and a separator assembly removablyreceived by the autonomous vacuum cleaner, a portion of the separatorassembly defines a portion of at least two walls of the outer housing.

Other features and aspects of the invention will become apparent byconsideration of the following detailed description and accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of an autonomous vacuum cleaner inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the autonomous vacuum cleaner of FIG. 1,with a portion of the housing removed to illustrate the layout ofcertain internal components.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the autonomous vacuum cleaner of FIG. 1, takenalong line 3-3 of FIG. 1, with the housing removed to illustrate thelayout of certain internal components.

FIG. 4 is a first side view of the autonomous vacuum cleaner of FIG. 1,taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2, with a portion of the housing removed toillustrate the layout of certain internal components.

FIG. 5 is a second side view of the autonomous vacuum cleaner of FIG. 1,taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 2, with a portion of the housing removed toillustrate the layout of certain internal components.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the autonomous vacuum cleaner of FIG. 1, with aportion of the housing removed and illustrating an emission from amapping emitter.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the autonomous vacuum cleaner of FIG. 1, with aportion of the housing removed and illustrating emissions from objectdetection sensors.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the autonomous vacuum cleaner ofFIG. 1, taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 2, illustrating a nozzle and aseparator assembly.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the autonomous vacuum cleaner ofFIG. 1, taken along line 9-9 of FIG. 3, illustrating the separator,shroud, and motor assembly.

FIG. 10 is an isometric view illustrating disassembly of the separatorassembly for use in the autonomous vacuum cleaner of FIG. 1.

FIG. 11 is an isometric view of a wheel assembly for use in theautonomous vacuum cleaner of FIG. 1.

FIG. 12 is an isometric view of the wheel assembly of FIG. 11 with awheel housing removed.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of the wheel assembly of FIG. 11,taken along line 13-13 of FIG. 12, illustrating the drive and gearassembly.

FIG. 14 is an isometric view of an alternative embodiment of a mappingassembly for use in the autonomous vacuum cleaner of FIG. 1.

FIG. 15 is a side view of the mapping assembly of FIG. 14, taken alongline 15-15 of FIG. 14.

FIG. 16 is a partial side cross-sectional view of an embodiment of theautonomous vacuum cleaner of FIG. 1 illustrating the separator assemblyand associated dimensions of the nozzle, conduit, and separator.

FIG. 17 is a partial cross-sectional view of an embodiment of aseparator and motor assembly arrangement where a filter chamber isdefined by a portion of the separator.

FIG. 18 is a plan view of the autonomous vacuum cleaner of FIG. 1, witha portion of the housing provided as transparent and illustrating a wallfollow sensor.

FIG. 19 is a partial side cross-sectional view of an embodiment of theautonomous vacuum cleaner of FIG. 1 illustrating the dust bin having aremovable door.

Before any embodiments of the present invention are explained in detail,it should be understood that the invention is not limited in itsapplication to the details or construction and the arrangement ofcomponents as set forth in the following description or as illustratedin the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and ofbeing practiced or of being carried out in various ways. It should beunderstood that the description of specific embodiments is not intendedto limit the disclosure from covering all modifications, equivalents andalternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the disclosure.Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology usedherein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded aslimiting.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention illustrated in the Figures and disclosed herein isgenerally directed to an autonomous vacuum cleaner 10, and morespecifically components provided in the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10that improve operation over known autonomous vacuum cleaners. Theautonomous vacuum cleaner 10 is a robot vacuum cleaner that includes oneor more controllers, sensors, and automatic wheel assemblies operable incombination to sense a surrounding environment and navigate about theenvironment to perform a surface cleaning operation without continuoushuman input.

For ease of discussion and understanding, the following detaileddescription will refer to a separator 54, but illustrates a cycloneseparator oriented horizontally. It should be appreciated that theinvention is not limited to a cyclone or cyclonic type separator, butmay employ any suitable dust separation device. In addition, theseparator 54 may be oriented horizontally (as illustrated), vertically,or in any other orientation.

It should be appreciated that the term direction of travel 100 isdirected to the direction the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10 travels whenone or more powered wheels are operational. Accordingly, the directionof travel 100 may be a straight line when all powered wheels areoperational, or may be a curve when one or more powered wheels areoperational.

It should also be appreciated that the term “dust” is directed to dust,dirt, particulate, debris, or any other material that may be drawn intothe autonomous vacuum cleaner 10 with air as dirty air. In addition, theterm “surface” may include carpeting, flooring, concrete, or any othermaterial from which the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10 may remove dustfrom.

Referring now to the Figures, FIGS. 1-13 illustrate an embodiment of theautonomous vacuum cleaner 10. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the autonomousvacuum cleaner 10 includes a housing or outer housing 12 that enclosesor partially encloses components of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10.The housing 12 includes a top portion or wall 14 opposite a bottomportion or wall 16. Between the top and bottom portions 14, 16 is anarcuate portion or wall 18. The arcuate portion 18 is a curved portionthat connects a first side portion or wall 20 (see FIG. 3) to a secondside portion or wall 22 (see also FIG. 3). The first and second sideportions 20, 22 oppose one another, and further are approximatelyparallel to each other. However, in other embodiments, the first andsecond sides 20, 22 may be non-parallel to each other. A front portionor wall 24 extends between the first and second side portions 20, 22 andis provided opposite the arcuate portion 18. The front portion 24 isillustrated as approximately perpendicular to a direction of travel 100(shown in FIGS. 1 and 3). In other embodiments, the front portion 24 maybe arranged at any suitable angle or have any shape relative to thedirection of travel 100.

Referring now to FIGS. 2, 4, and 5, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10 isshown with a portion of the housing 12 removed to illustrate internallyhoused components. Specifically, the top portion 14, arcuate portion 18,first side portion 20, and second side portion 22 are all removed. Thebottom portion 16 carries the internal components.

The front portion 24 houses a control unit 26, illustrated as a printedcircuit board. The control unit 26 includes electronics, includingprocessing components and instructions, to operate the autonomous vacuumcleaner 10 and internal components disclosed herein. The front portion24 also houses a mapping assembly 27 (shown in FIGS. 4-6) that includesa mapping emitter 28 and a mapping receiver 30. The mapping emitter andreceiver 28, 30 are vertically aligned in a plane approximatelyperpendicular with a ground or floor 200 (shown in FIGS. 4-5). Themapping receiver 30 is provided a known distance from the mappingemitter 28 to provide for triangulation to map an environment withinwhich the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10 operates. While the illustratedmapping assembly 27 provides the emitter 28 at a position below thereceiver 30 (i.e. the emitter 28 is closer to the floor 200 than thereceiver 30), in other embodiments the emitter 28 may be at a positionabove the receiver 30 (i.e. the receiver 30 is closer to the floor 200than the emitter 28).

The mapping emitter and receiver 28, 30 are in operational alignmentwith a window 32 (shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) provided in the front portion24. The window 32 allows the signal from the mapping emitter 28 to betransmitted out of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10, and for thecorresponding return signal to be received by the mapping receiver 30within the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10. In the illustrated embodiment,the window 32 includes a filter or optical filter 33 that filters thesignal originating from the mapping emitter 28. Stated otherwise, onlythe wavelength of the signal from the mapping emitter 28 can exitthrough the filter 33, or return through the filter 33 to the mappingreceiver 30. In other embodiments, the window 32 may be translucent, maynot include any filter 33, or may merely be an aperture in the frontportion 24.

In the illustrated embodiment, the mapping emitter 28 is a laser emitter28 that emits light 34 in a non-visible wavelength, and preferably at aninfrared (IR) wavelength (or a wavelength between approximately 700nanometers and 1000 nanometers). The emitter 28 emits light 34 in agenerally forward direction, in a plane approximately parallel with theground or floor 200 (shown in FIGS. 4-5). As shown in FIG. 6, the light34 emitted from the mapping emitter 28 is in a horizontal band having anangle θ. Angle θ is approximately 120°, but in other embodiments may bemore or less than approximately 120°. The emitted light 34 is reflectedby objects in the field of view of the mapping receiver 30. The filter33 allows the wavelength of reflected light 34 to pass through, butfilters out light of other wavelengths. This allows the mapping receiver30 to receive only the filtered wavelength of reflected light 34 and touse the reflected light 34 to generate a depth map of the field of view.

FIGS. 14-15 illustrate an alternative embodiment of a mapping assembly127. The mapping assembly 127 includes components that are substantiallyas described in association with mapping assembly 27, and like numbershave been used to illustrate like components. In this embodiment, themapping assembly 127 includes a lower housing 130 coupled to an upperhousing 132. The lower housing 130 carries the mapping emitter 28, whilethe upper housing 132 carries the mapping receiver 30. The lower housing130 defines a channel 134 that receives a portion of a nozzle 40 (shownin FIGS. 4, 5, and 8). In some embodiments, a portion of a brush roll 42within the nozzle 40 is also positioned in the channel 134. The mappingemitter 28 and mapping receiver 30 are provided in vertical alignment,however are horizontally offset. As shown in FIG. 15, the mappingemitter 28 is forward of the channel 134 while the mapping receiver 30is rearward of the channel 134. The upper housing 132 also carries anobject detection sensor assembly 35 that includes one or more objectdetection sensors 36. The object detection sensors 36 are illustrated asultrasonic sensors 36, but may be any suitable sensor to detect anobject or obstruction in the environment within which the autonomousvacuum cleaner 10 operates.

Referring back to FIG. 2, the front portion 24 also houses a pair ofobject detection sensors 36 a, b. In the illustrated embodiment, theobject detection sensors 36 a, b are ultrasonic sensors 36 a, b providedon the front portion 24, and may be near or offset from a first side 120end of the front portion 24 and a second side 122 end of the frontportion 24. Each of the ultrasonic sensors 36 a, b emit an ultrasonicsignal 38 that is reflected back to a receiver portion (not shown) oneach sensor 36 a, b to detect objects or potential obstructions in thedirection of travel 100.

FIG. 7 illustrates the ultrasonic signals 38. The ultrasonic signals 38are emitted outward from each of the ultrasonic sensors 36 a, b. Thesignals 38 are dispersed in a band having an angle Δ. Angle Δ isapproximately 60°, but in other embodiments may be more than or lessthan approximately 60°. The signals 38 intersect at an imaginary point(not shown) a distance away from the front portion 24 in the directionof travel 100. The distance the imaginary point (not shown) is from thefront portion 24 depends on the distance the ultrasonic sensors 36 a, bare spaced from one another and the angle Δ. By spacing the sensors 36a, b from one another a desired distance to locate the imaginary point(not shown) a desired distance from the front portion 24, the signals 38provide an area of detection in the direction of travel 100 sufficientto detect (and subsequently avoid) objects or potential obstructions inthe direction of travel 100. Alternatively or additionally, the sensorsmay be angled toward or away from one another to change the location ofthe imaginary point (not shown). The signal 38 band may be conical,linear, or any other suitable directed or non-directed emission shape.In other embodiments, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10 may incorporateone object detection or ultrasonic sensor 36 or three or more objectdetection or ultrasonic sensors 36. In addition, the signal 38dispersion angle may differ between sensors 36 a, b, and does not needto be the same. For example, one sensor 36 may emit a signal 38 having afirst angle Δ₁, and another sensor 36 may emit a signal 38 having asecond angle Δ₂, where Δ₁ does not equal Δ₂. The object detection orultrasonic sensors 36 advantageously detect objects or potentialobstructions at a distance away from the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10.Accordingly, as shown in the illustrated embodiments, the ultrasonicsensors 36 replace traditional contact or bump sensors, eliminatingintentional physical contact of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10 withobjects, increasing operational life by decreasing intentional impacts.

Referring to FIGS. 2, 4, and 5, the bottom portion 16 carries the nozzle40. In one embodiment, the nozzle 40 is provided under or on the floor200 side of the control unit 26. The bottom portion 16 also includes asloped portion or ramp portion 17 provided at a front portion 24 end ofthe bottom portion 16. The ramp portion 17 is also provided on the frontportion 24 side of the nozzle 40 and extends away from the floor 200.The ramp portion 17 assists the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10 to traverseover different types of floors 200 and to transition between floor 200materials having different heights, such as a transition between ahardwood floor and a carpet having a greater height than the hardwoodfloor. In addition, the ramp portion 17 assists with directing thebottom portion 16 upwards, or away from the floor 200, when theautonomous vacuum cleaner 10 climbs an incline.

As shown in FIGS. 4, 5, and 8, the nozzle 40 includes the brush roll 42that extends through an inlet slot 44 to engage a portion of the floor200. The brush roll 42 is driven by a brush roll motor 46 by a belt orgear assembly 47 (shown in FIG. 5). The brush roll motor 46 rotates thebrush roll 42, such that the brush roll 42 agitates the floor 200 tofacilitate dust collection. In one embodiment, the brush roll motor 46is a reversible motor to drive the brush roll 42 clockwise andcounterclockwise (as viewed in FIG. 8). By reversing the brush roll 42rotation direction, the brush roll 42 can assist with driving theautonomous vacuum cleaner 10 forward, towards the direction of travel100, or in reverse, away from the direction of travel 100. In otherembodiments, the brush roll 42 only rotates in one direction. The lengthof the brush roll 42 may be between about 75% and 85% of the width ofthe front portion 24. Alternatively, the length of the brush roll 42 maybe between about 85% and 95% of the width of the front portion 24. Inyet another embodiment, the length of the brush roll 42 may be betweenabout 75% and 100% of the width of the front portion 24. For reference,the width of the front portion 24 may be defined as the distance alongthe front portion that extends between the first and second sides 20,22.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, the nozzle 40 may be laterally offset onthe bottom portion 16, positioned closer to the first side 120 than thesecond side 122. The nozzle 40 may be offset closer to the first side120 to accommodate the belt or gear assembly 47 that drives the brushroll 42. By having the nozzle 40 closer to the first side or dominantside 120, the control unit 26 will operate the autonomous vacuum cleaner10 such that the dominant side 120 will follow or track a wall or otherobstacle in the environment the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10 operates.The nozzle 40 will vacuum dust along the wall or other obstacle,minimizing an unvacuumed portion of the floor 200 between the wall (orobstacle) and the nozzle 40. To assist the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10with following or tracking a wall or other obstacle, a wall followsensor 136 (see FIG. 18) may be provided on the first side or dominantside 120 of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10. The wall follow sensor 136is illustrated as positioned on the nozzle 40, but may be provided atany location suitable for operation. The wall follow sensor 136 has asensor emission that is at an angle to the direction of travel 100, suchas approximately orthogonal to the direction of travel 100. The wallfollow sensor 136 may be any suitable detection device, including, butnot limited to, a visible or nonvisible light based sensor (laser,infrared, etc.) or a sound based sensor (ultrasonic, etc.). In otherembodiments, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10 may not include a dominantside, as the nozzle 40 may extend from the first side 120 to the secondside 122 of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10.

The nozzle 40 is in direct fluid connection with a separator assembly 50by a conduit 48. Referring to FIG. 8, the conduit 48 is partiallydefined by a nozzle outlet 49 and a separator inlet 52. The separatorinlet 52 may removably engage the conduit 48, or alternatively, theconduit 48 may removably engage the nozzle outlet 49, to facilitateremoval of the separator assembly 50 from the autonomous vacuum cleaner10. The separator inlet 52 may be an inlet aperture in the separator, ormay include a duct or other portion of the separator 54 housing thatextends away from the separator 54.

In the illustrated embodiment, the conduit 48 extends upward, or awayfrom the floor 200, to the separator 54. The conduit 48 is preferably asshort of a distance as possible and has as few bends as possible inorder to maximize the suction or air flow from the nozzle 40 to theseparator 54. For example, the conduit 48 has no more than one bend. Inone embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 16, the separator 54 is a cyclonicseparator having a cyclone diameter D_(c). The horizontal distance D₁from the nozzle outlet 49 to the separator inlet 52, as measured alongthe direction of travel 100, is between about 0.1 and 0.5 times thecyclone diameter D_(c). The distance D₂ from the nozzle outlet 49 to theseparator inlet 52, as measured along the conduit 48, is between about0.8 and 1.2 times the cyclone diameter D_(c). More particularly, thedistance D₂ from the nozzle outlet 49 to the separator inlet 52 may beless than about one cyclone diameter D_(c).

Referring now to FIGS. 8 and 9, the separator assembly 50 includes theseparator 54, an outlet shroud 56, and a dust cup or dust bin 58. Theseparator 54 receives a portion of the air outlet shroud 56, which maybe removable from the separator 54. The dust bin 58 is in fluidconnection with the separator 54. In the illustrated embodiment, theseparator 54 is a cyclonic separator having a cylindrical sidewall 57about a separator axis 154 (shown in FIG. 7). Referring to FIG. 7, theseparator axis 154 is transverse to a longitudinal axis of the dust bin158. The separator 54 may be generally perpendicular to the longitudinalaxis of the dust bin 158. In addition, the separator axis 154 isgenerally parallel to a longitudinal axis through the nozzle 142, forexample through the brush roll 42 (as shown in FIG. 16).

Referring to FIG. 16, in the illustrated embodiment, the horizontaldistance D₃ between the separator axis 154 and the longitudinal axisthrough the nozzle 142, as measured along the direction of travel 100,is between about 0.4 and about 1.5 times the cyclone diameter D_(c), andmore specifically is between about 1.0 and about 1.2 times the cyclonediameter D_(c). In another alternative embodiment, the horizontaldistance D₃ between the separator axis 154 and the longitudinal axisthrough the nozzle 142, as measured along the direction of travel 100,is between about 0.8 and about 1.5 times the cyclone diameter D_(c).

The distance D₄ from the separator axis 154 and the longitudinal axisthrough the nozzle 142 is between about 1.0 and 1.5 times the cyclonediameter D_(c). The vertical distance D₅ between the separator axis 154and the longitudinal axis through the nozzle 142, as measuredapproximately perpendicular to the direction of travel 100, is betweenabout 0.4 and 0.8 times the cyclone diameter D_(c).

Referring back to FIGS. 8 and 9, the separator 54 is illustrated as areverse air flow cyclonic separator, with the separator inlet 52 and airoutlet shroud 56 provided on the same end of the separator 54, and adust discharge aperture 55 (see FIG. 9) provided on an opposite end ofthe separator 54. In the illustrated embodiment, the separator inlet 52and the outlet shroud 56 are provided closer to a motor assembly 60 thanthe dust discharge aperture 55. As best illustrated in FIG. 8, theseparator 54 is defined by the substantially cylindrical sidewall 57.The dust bin 58 may include an arcuate or curved wall 59 that removablyengages a portion of the cylindrical sidewall 57 of the separator 54.The dust discharge aperture 55 extends through a portion of thecylindrical sidewall 57 and a portion of the curved wall 59 to provide afluid connection between the separator 54 and the dust bin 58. The dustbin 58 and the separator 54 may be removed together as a unit, or may beremoved separately. In other embodiments, the curved wall 59 of the dustbin 58 may be omitted and the cylindrical sidewall 57 of the separator54 forms an end of the dust bin 58. The fluid connection between theseparator 54 and dust bin 58 allows dust separated from dirty air in theseparator 54 to exit the separator 54 and enter the dust bin 58 forcollection and later disposal. As shown in FIG. 9, the shroud 56includes a plurality of air flow apertures 53 to discharge clean airfrom the separator 54.

FIG. 1 illustrates the separator assembly 50 in relation to theautonomous vacuum cleaner 10. In the illustrated embodiment, theseparator assembly 50 defines a portion of the housing 12. Morespecifically, a portion of the dust bin 58 defines a portion of the topportion 14 and arcuate portion 18 of the housing 12. The top portion ofthe housing 12 may include one or more channels 15 to allow a user tograsp the separator assembly 50 and remove it from the top portion 14 ofthe autonomous vacuum cleaner 10. Alternatively, the separator assembly50 may be enclosed within the housing 12.

Once removed from the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10, the modularseparator assembly 50 may be easily disassembled. Referring to FIG. 10,the dust bin 58 is detachable from the separator 54 in a firstdirection. Once detached, a user is free to empty any dust collected inthe dust bin 58. In addition, the shroud 56 may be removed from theseparator 54 in a second direction, approximately perpendicular to thefirst direction. By removing the shroud 56, a user has access to theinside of the separator 54, allowing for additional cleaning and removalof any dust in the separator 54. In other embodiments, and asillustrated in FIG. 19, the dust bin 58 includes an access door or cap159. The door 159 may define a portion of the dust bin 58 body andprovide access to empty the dust bin 58. The illustrated door 159 has aninterference fit with the dust bin 58 body to facilitate removal of thedoor 159 from the dust bin 58. However in other embodiments, the door159 may be connected to the dust bin 58 in any suitable manner toprovide access to empty the dust bin 58.

Referring back to FIG. 9, the separator 54 is removably connected to themotor assembly 60. A filter medium 62 for filtering clean air dischargedby the separator 54 is provided in a filter chamber 63 between theseparator 54 and a suction motor and fan assembly 64. The clean airdrawn through the filter 62 may be used to cool the suction motor andfan assembly 64 prior to being discharged as exhaust. The suction motorand fan assembly 64 has an axis of rotation with the fan rotatable aboutthe axis of rotation to generate a vacuum air flow. The axis of rotationmay be along the separator axis 154 (shown in FIG. 7), as the cyclonicseparator 54 and the air outlet shroud 56 is each coaxial with the motorassembly 60, motor and fan assembly 64, and the filter chamber 63.

In the embodiment of the separator 54 illustrated in FIG. 9, the filtermedium 62 is provided in the motor assembly 60 and remains with themotor assembly 60 when the separator 54 is removed from the autonomousvacuum cleaner 10. This allows a user to visually inspect and ascertainthe cleanliness of the filter 62 when the separator assembly 50, andspecifically the separator 54, is removed as the dirty side of thefilter 62 is visible to the user.

In a second embodiment of the separator 54 illustrated in FIG. 17, thefilter chamber 63 is defined by a portion of the shroud 56. The filtermedium 62 may partially extend into or be completely retained by theshroud 56 at a clean air outlet end 66 of the separator 54. The filtermedium 62 remains with the shroud 56 when the separator 54 is removedfrom the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10. Thus, the shroud 56 may remainwith the separator 54 or remain in the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10 whenthe separator 54 is removed. To assist with retaining the filter medium62, the shroud 56 includes a flange 67 that contacts the filter medium62. The flange 67 may be provided about a portion, up to an entirety, ofa circumference of the shroud 56 at the clean air outlet end 66. A seal65 may be provided between the separator 54 and the shroud 56 to avoiduncontrolled air discharge during operation.

In a third embodiment of the separator 54, the filter chamber 63 isdefined by a portion of the separator 54. The filter medium 62 maypartially extend into or be completely retained by the separator 54 andremoved with the separator 54. The flange 67 may be provided about aportion, up to an entirety, of a circumference of the separator 54 atthe clean air outlet end 66. The shroud 67 may be optional, with theshroud 67 being received by the separator 54.

FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate a battery 70 carried by the bottom portion 16.The battery 70 is a rechargeable battery that provides electricity tooperate the components described herein. In one embodiment, the battery70 is not removable from the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10. The battery70 is recharged by the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10 establishing anelectrical connection with a power source (not shown), such as acharging station or an electrical outlet. In other embodiments, thebattery 70 may be removable from the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10 tofacilitate charging or recharging in a remote charging station, orbattery 70 replacement. In either event, contacts (not shown) may beprovided on the outer housing 12 that engage corresponding contacts (notshown) on the charging station (not shown). The contacts on the outerhousing 12 are positioned such that they engage the contacts on thecharging station when the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10 drives up to andconnects with the charging station.

FIGS. 11-13 illustrate an embodiment of an automatic wheel assembly 80for use with the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10. The wheel assembly 80includes a housing 82 that supports a wheel 84 coupled to a drive 86 bya gear assembly 88. Referring to FIG. 13, the gear assembly 88 includesone or more gears 89 a, b, c and a worm gear 87. The drive 86 rotatesthe worm gear 87 that meshes with a first gear 89 a, rotating theadditional gears 89 b, c as desired to rotate the wheel 84. The gears 89a, b, c have a gear ratio suitable to translate rotation of the wormgear 87 into rotation of the wheel 84, and subsequent lateral motion ofthe autonomous vacuum cleaner 10. It should be appreciated that rotationof the worm gear 87 in a first direction results in a first lateralmotion of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10, while rotation of the wormgear 87 in a second direction, opposite the first direction, results ina second lateral motion of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10 that isopposite the first lateral motion. In the embodiments illustrated inFIGS. 2-5, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10 includes two wheelassemblies 80. However, in other embodiments, one wheel assembly 80 orthree or more wheel assemblies 80 may be incorporated into theautonomous vacuum cleaner 10.

While the plurality of wheel assemblies 80, and optionally assisted bythe brush roll 42, drive the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10, theautonomous vacuum cleaner 10 also includes a plurality of non-drivenwheels 90, 92. As shown in FIGS. 4-5, a first non-driven wheel 90 isprovided between the brush roll 42 and the wheel assemblies 80, while asecond non-driven wheel 90 is provided between the wheel assemblies 80and a rear 19 of the bottom portion 16, the rear 19 provided on anopposite end of the bottom portion 16 as the ramp portion 17. Thenon-driven wheels 90, 92 may be casters, and assist with balance andstability during operation of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10. In otherembodiments, the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10 may include one non-drivenwheel, three or more non-driven wheels, or zero non-driven wheels.

The autonomous vacuum cleaner 10 provides advantages over knownautonomous vacuums in the art. By utilizing object detection sensors 36to detect objects or potential obstructions at a distance away from theautonomous vacuum cleaner 10, intentional physical contact with objectsnecessary for traditional contact or bump sensors is eliminated. Thisincreases operational life by reducing unnecessary impacts. In addition,the modular separator assembly 50 provides for easy and efficientremoval from the autonomous vacuum cleaner 10 to facilitate emptying ofthe dust bin 58, and easy access to clean the separator 54. Further, theramp portion 17 of the bottom portion 16 advantageously assists theautonomous vacuum cleaner 10 to climb inclines and traverse floor 200materials having different heights, as the ramp portion 17 guides thebottom portion 16 upwards or away from the floor 200. These and otheradvantages may be realized from one or more embodiments of theautonomous vacuum cleaner 10 disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. An autonomous vacuum cleaner comprising: ahousing with one or more of a controller, a sensor, and an automaticwheel assembly operable in combination to sense a surroundingenvironment and to navigate about the surrounding environment to performa surface cleaning operation without continuous human input; a suctionnozzle; a suction motor and a fan assembly operable to generate anairflow through the vacuum cleaner from the suction nozzle through adebris separator to a clean air exhaust, the suction motor and the fanassembly having an axis of rotation and a fan of the fan assemblyrotatable about the axis of rotation, the axis of rotation orientatedhorizontally, the debris separator including a cyclonic separatoroperable to separate debris from the airflow, the cyclonic separatorincluding, a cylindrical wall along a longitudinal axis, thelongitudinal axis of the cyclonic separator being orientatedhorizontally.
 2. The autonomous vacuum cleaner of claim 1, wherein thecylindrical wall includes a first end and a second end, the longitudinalaxis extending through the first end and the second end, and wherein theaxis of rotation extends through the first end and the second end of thecylindrical wall.
 3. The autonomous vacuum cleaner of claim 2, whereinthe cyclonic separator further includes, a dirty air inlet, a clean airoutlet, a debris outlet adjacent the second end of the cylindrical wall,and a dust bin in fluid communication with the debris outlet of thecyclonic separator.
 4. The autonomous vacuum cleaner of claim 2, wherethe longitudinal axis of the cyclonic separator is coaxial with the axisof rotation of the motor and fan assembly.
 5. The autonomous vacuumcleaner of claim 1, wherein the suction nozzle is along a longitudinalaxis generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cyclonicseparator.
 6. The autonomous vacuum cleaner of claim 5, wherein the axisof rotation of the motor and fan assembly is generally parallel to thelongitudinal axis of the suction nozzle.
 7. The autonomous vacuumcleaner of claim 5, wherein the cyclonic separator has a cyclonediameter, and a horizontal distance between the longitudinal axis of thecyclonic separator and the longitudinal axis through the nozzle along adirection of travel is between about 0.4 and about 1.5 times the cyclonediameter.
 8. The autonomous vacuum cleaner of claim 1, furthercomprising a dust bin in fluid communication with the cyclonicseparator, wherein the longitudinal axis of the cyclonic separator istransverse to a longitudinal axis of the dust bin.
 9. The autonomousvacuum cleaner of claim 5, wherein the cyclonic separator has a cyclonediameter, and a distance from the longitudinal axis of the nozzle to thelongitudinal axis of the separator is between about 0.4 and 1.5 timesthe cyclone diameter.
 10. The autonomous vacuum cleaner of claim 1,further comprising a filter positioned between the cyclonic separatorand the suction motor and fan assembly to filter air discharged from theseparator.
 11. The autonomous vacuum cleaner of claim 1, wherein thecyclonic separator is removably connected to the suction source.
 12. Theautonomous vacuum cleaner of claim 1, wherein the cyclonic separatorfurther includes a first end wall located at the first end of thecylindrical wall, and wherein a clean air outlet extends through thefirst end wall of the cyclonic separator.
 13. The autonomous vacuumcleaner of claim 12, wherein the cyclonic separator further includes asecond end wall defining a portion of a debris outlet.
 14. Theautonomous vacuum cleaner of claim 13, further comprising a perforatedtube located within the cylindrical wall, the perforated tube extendingfrom the first end wall of the cyclonic separator forming the clean airoutlet, and wherein the perforated tube is removable with the first endwall when the separator is removed from the suction motor and fanassembly.
 15. The autonomous vacuum cleaner of claim 12, wherein a dirtyair inlet of the cyclonic separator is adjacent the first end of thecylindrical wall.
 16. The autonomous vacuum cleaner of claim 15, whereinthe dirty air inlet extends through the cylindrical wall.
 17. Theautonomous vacuum cleaner of claim 1, where the cyclonic separatorincludes a clean air outlet, wherein the clean air outlet includes aperforated tube located within the cylindrical wall.
 18. The autonomousvacuum cleaner of claim 1, further comprising a battery that providepower to the suction motor, wherein the battery is removable from theautonomous vacuum cleaner to facilitate recharging the battery.
 19. Theautonomous vacuum cleaner of claim 1, further comprising a brush rolladjacent the suction nozzle.
 20. The autonomous vacuum cleaner of claim19, wherein the brush roll rotates in a first direction to facilitateforward movement of the autonomous vacuum cleaner and the brush rollrotates in a second direction, opposite the first direction, tofacilitate backward movement of the autonomous vacuum cleaner.